Our Breath is the Gateway

The gateway to inner peace and calm is within us from the moment we cry our first breath into this life.

What if I told you that you were born with and have at your disposal at any given moment in time,

the one and only tool you need to shift you from feeling stress to feeling calm and centered?

What if this simple practice is the key to managing stress in your body and your life?

What if I told you that this practice is the gateway to lowering your blood pressure and heart rate, stopping the production of cortisol and other stress hormones from your brain into your body and that it is the key to calming down your nervous system, reducing or eliminating pain and anxiety felt in your body?

Connecting with your breath is the single most powerful and effective action you can take to stop anxious thoughts, the rising anxiety in your body, the burst of anger that comes upon you when triggered, the confusion or indecision you may be stuck in like quicksand or any stressful situations you find yourself in throughout the day, whether it is driving in aggressive traffic, feeling like your teenager’s punching bag or dealing with a toxic boss at work.

You need not buy a single thing to reduce your stress. You need not follow a guru, read a book or take a course. You need not go to a studio or ashram or a special room in your house. You need not be a yogi or a spiritual person. You need not be any age, race, gender, weight, or level of physical strength or well-being.

You need not be anything other than a human being who can control their own breathing.

And while there are many valid and varied types of breathing techniques one can learn to achieve the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits that I state above, the only one that you need to learn – and practice – is so simple and effective that you can do it anywhere, at any time – and no one will even need to know you are doing it.

Are you ready?

Here it is.

Breath in through your nose, filling up your belly – like a balloon.

When your belly is full, at capacity – you slowly breath out – as slowly as you can – through your nose, flattening your belly again.

That’s it.    Once cycle of breath – done.

Breathing in and out of the nose, and significantly slowing down the exhale is the magic combination to all the changes in the brain, body (muscles), nervous system – which are all the catalysts to feeling calmer, more peaceful, more centered and if you breathe like this for more than 15-20 minutes, you can even feel joyful, loving, compassionate and blissed out – because now you have not only stopped all the stress responses in your brain and body – you have turned on the “Relaxation Response” (Benson Method) and your brain is now flooding your body with calming and happy hormones like acetylcholine, endorphins, serotonin and dopamine.

In all my meditation sessions, for myself or when I am guiding others, we always, always, always begin with the breath. For myself, and for all the people I have worked with, they will attest to how well this breathing works, like magic in our sessions. However, because it is not how we normally breathe, it may feel unnatural and even a bit challenging in the beginning. Which is why we must practice- like any other skill, practice is the only way to mastery. The more times a day that we take just 5 minutes to set aside for this breathing practice, we will quickly and effectively train our brains and bodies to calm and center. Then, once the 5 minutes seems easy, we increase our time to 10 minutes, a couple of times a day. Then once that feels good to you, increase again to 15 minutes, twice a day. After a few days of this, you will be looking for more time in your day to incorporate your practice – because you will be feeling so good. Once you hit 20 minutes a day – you are hooked. If you prioritize and commit to this simple 5 minute practice, a couple of times a day, it will change your health – on every level. I would go so far as to say that it will change your life. You can start right now. Try it and see how you feel.

Sending love to all,

Donna